Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Then, the Master told us a story about a charming woman.
This Wenlan, no one knew where she came from, what her ancestry was, how many people were in her family, or even what her surname was. All of these details remained a mystery. The only impression people had of her was that she was a woman in her thirties, with a curvy figure who loved to talk—she was quite the chatterbox.
When Wenlan arrived here, the eighteen-year-old Little Master had not yet come. It was about four years ago when Wenlan first appeared, and she came alone. The person in charge had no idea what this woman was doing here; from that day on, she took charge of the meals for the workers in the renovation team. Although everyone found it strange, her cooking skills were far superior to those of the men. Moreover, she didn’t ask for any wages—just three meals a day and a place to sleep.
The person in charge didn’t comment on Wenlan's actions; he had privately looked into her background but found nothing conclusive. However, he observed that this woman must have experienced some kind of upheaval to end up here. Wenlan never spoke of her past, but he could vaguely sense that she had escaped from somewhere in the mountains.
In his words: "I think this woman must have been trafficked into the mountains when she was young. She probably has no relatives left, so she just found a place where she could eat and sleep. But speaking of it, this woman is quite beautiful and has an impressive figure; too bad I already have a wife..."
Wenlan's presence added a touch of tenderness to the all-male renovation team. In terms of relationships, she was never shy; wherever there was a need, she would be there. Thus, Wenlan became the beloved among them all. She often remarked, "It's a pity you all take care of me but won’t marry me."
Indeed, for this reason, the workers occasionally gave Wenlan some money since she didn’t earn any wages in the renovation team. However, who would dare to marry a woman with such an unclear background? So during their usual routines, while the workers cooked for her, at night she became their wife.
And so it continued for four years.
However, the Master said that during these four years, Wenlan had managed to save up around Ten Thousand Yuan. With that amount, she could probably return to her hometown since she had never mentioned her origins to anyone. Reflecting on her life over these four years—though often teased—it must have been something close to her heart.
The Master seemed somewhat melancholic as he said, "She truly hopes someone will marry her; however, after four years, no one has shown any interest. So perhaps once she leaves, she will never return. But I don’t believe she has gone missing. She is like a lost Migratory Bird that must eventually return to its nest..."
I couldn’t help but think about how this Master had half his hair gone and could only remedy it by “supporting local with central.” He wore dirty clothes smeared with paint and had a noticeable belly. Yet when he spoke, there was an unexpected poetic quality mixed with melancholy. It reminded me of the saying: one cannot judge a person by their appearance.
But at that moment, I had no time to indulge in the Master’s poetic musings; I needed to confirm whether this Wenlan was indeed the third victim. According to Juan Juan's investigation, the man whose bones were sliced thin and whose internal fat and muscle were drained was male. Yet we hadn’t even confirmed the identity of the second victim before discovering there might be a Third Victim.
From what we gathered about Sun Shouwang and Wenlan, both seemed to lack close relatives. Even if they went missing, no one would care. The Killer specifically targeted such individuals, leaving behind few clues. More importantly, it was unlikely anyone would report them missing; determining the identity of the deceased posed a significant challenge for us. The identities remained shrouded in mystery while it seemed there might be more than one Killer involved—a truly perplexing situation.
"So no one knows where Wenlan went?" I continued to inquire.
Several nodded in agreement as the Master elaborated: "Not only do we not know where she went; we don’t even know when she left. It was about five days ago when we woke up and found Wenlan missing. We thought she had gone out to buy groceries or something; however, after that day, she never returned."
It had been five days since the disappearance, and judging by the circumstances, the Killer must have been well-prepared and had meticulously planned everything. The choice of targets, the methods of killing, and the clues left for us were all likely considered carefully, perhaps even simulated. This meant that the Killer could have been planning for a month, two months, or even half a year. Meanwhile, we were left to confront him unprepared.
With this thought in mind, I took out the photo of the patched-up backside. It felt somewhat awkward, but if this truly was Wenlan's backside, these people should be able to recognize it. After all, they had all shared intimate moments with her at night.
The crowd gathered around, heads bowed as they examined the image. Voices rose in debate; some affirmed it was her while others denied it. The argument quickly escalated into chaos, resembling a tea party gone awry, leaving me with a headache from trying to follow along. Finally, Master summarized the situation with an air of authority: "Officer, it's a bit embarrassing to say this, but while we were together at night, we had the lights off. It felt a bit shy to have them on..."
I sighed deeply. If it wasn't Wenlan, finding the others would be incredibly difficult—like Captain said, it would be harder than finding a needle in a haystack. We still had no direction, like blind cats stumbling upon dead mice by sheer luck.
Just as I was about to give up hope and search for other clues, the young Master spoke up: "Officer, wait! I—I recognize that backside..."
I turned my head and asked, "Are you sure?"
The Young Master scratched the back of his head and replied, "Sister Wenlan used to say that they were too shy to do anything with the lights on. But when she was with me, we always had them on. Since I was younger, they never let me sleep in the same room with them, so Sister Wenlan often came to find me..."
Upon hearing his words, everyone erupted into chatter. Master exclaimed, "I can't believe you were also involved with Wenlan... How old are you? We didn’t let you stay in the same room for a reason! You’re just a kid! Look at you—still in high school at ten years old! What a scandal! And Wenlan is over thirty..."
The Young Master's cheeks flushed as he muttered back, "You’re not any better..."
As everyone reacted with surprise and amusement, the atmosphere shifted awkwardly. The renovation crew members looked embarrassed; if there were any cracks in the floor, they would surely want to hide in them. I addressed the young worker: "So you're saying that this backside in the picture is indeed Wenlan's?"
The Young Master nodded and explained further: "That's right; I remember that mole clearly. Sister Wenlan once told me it was called a beauty mark or something like that. She said to pay attention because marrying someone like her would be good for the family. So I remember it well. Although I don’t know why you have this picture, it definitely belongs to Sister Wenlan."
"Wenlan... why does she always talk so freely..." Master muttered.
It turned out that this person really was Wenlan. Indeed, every detail left behind by the Killer served as clues for us—each piece connected to another—forever keeping us on a relentless chase where every lead only revealed another.
However, upon closer analysis, we had skipped over the second victim and directly found what could be a third potential victim who hadn’t yet met her fate—Wenlan. Without that phone call, we might still be searching for clues about human puzzle pieces. This meant we needed to find leads on the second victim first before discovering that small workshop. Only by uncovering its secrets could we learn what lay within those barrels and then arrive at Zero Degree Renovation Team.
In other words, during the time that the Killer had allotted us, we had gained an entire day—or even more—advantage. This significantly reduced Wenlan's chances of having been harmed compared to her chances of being safe. If we could speed things up, perhaps we could prevent this murder before the Killer struck again!
Moreover, the small workshop could also lead us back to the identity of the second victim. Why hadn't I thought of this before? I immediately called Captain and said, "No need to investigate the rear anymore; we've figured it out on our end. Right now, you need to check that previous small workshop and see if anyone has gone missing under its name. We suspect that the second body is likely closely related to this workshop..."
Captain replied, "You found something? That's fantastic! Finally, I won't have to keep going out and feeling awkward. We'll launch a comprehensive investigation into that small workshop right away and aim to clarify everything about it and the surrounding area."
"Allocate a team from the Police Department; I need a lot of manpower to check the surveillance footage," I continued. "If we have enough time, we can stop this killing game."
"Understood, send me the address," Captain said.
While waiting for the Police Department personnel to arrive, I shared my thoughts with everyone.
Mary said, "If that's the case, then that mysterious phone call and person must be on our side?"
"We can't confirm that yet," I replied to Mary. "But if he is indeed being coerced, then he's in danger. At the same time, I believe this won't be his last call. If given the right opportunity, he will definitely call us again. Mary, be ready to monitor the phone lines. If we can find this person, the case will become clear."
"Right now, we're racing against time," Juan Juan said. "And if we fall behind, the price will be Wenlan's life."
The Senior High School Student was kidnapped along with the Leggy School Beauty and Busty Third-Tier Celebrity, trapped in an Abandoned Cabin, mistakenly consumed Unknown Wild Fruit, and felt feverish in the middle of the night.
Comment 0 Comment Count